Guide to the George Sidney Collection NMAH.AC.0867 Franklin A. Robinson, Jr. 2005-2010 Archives Center, National Museum of American History P.O. Box 37012 Suite 1100, MRC 601 Washington, D.C. 20013-7012 [email protected] http://americanhistory.si.edu/archives Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical / Historical.................................................................................................... 2 Arrangement..................................................................................................................... 4 Scope and Contents........................................................................................................ 4 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 5 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 6 Series 1: Photographs, Photographic Negatives, and Slides, 1914-1996, undated..................................................................................................................... 6 Series 2: Production Ephemera, Posters, and Scripts, 1930-1991........................ 78 Series 3: Office Files and Personal Material, 1903-2002, undated........................ 84 Series 4: Music Manuscripts, Sheet Music, and Music Related Material, 1885-1992, undated................................................................................................................... 90 Series 5: Audiovisual, 1933-2001, undated......................................................... 104 Series 6: Sidney, George (1877-1945), 1909-1945, undated............................... 133 George Sidney Collection NMAH.AC.0867 Collection Overview Repository: Archives Center, National Museum of American History Title: George Sidney Collection Identifier: NMAH.AC.0867 Date: 1885-2002 (bulk 1940-1967) Extent: 54 Film reels 96 Cubic feet (288 boxes, 6 oversize folders) Source: National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Music, Sports and Entertainment Sidney, Corinne Entratter Sidney, George, 1916-2002 Language: English . Summary: George Sidney (1916-2002) was a film director during the Golden Age of Hollywood filmmaking (1927-1954). He spent the longest period of his career at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) until the 1950s. He later produced and directed films for Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures. He was a president of the Directors Guild of America and an avid photographer. He was the recipient of three awards from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Oscar). The collection consists of photographs, photographic negatives, personal and business materials, and film. The collection also contains material created by George Sidney's uncle, George Sidney, vaudevillian and motion picture actor. Administrative Information Acquisition Information This collection was donated to the Archives Center in 2005 by Corinne Entratter Sidney, widow of George Sidney. Related Materials The Harry Warren Collection, AC0750 The Groucho Marx Collection, AC0269 Sidney related artifacts from Sidney's films are housed in the Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian. There are scrapbooks donated by the Sidney Estate in the collection of the Cinema-Television Library, Doheny Library, University of Southern California, consisting of eleven volumes containing photographs, correspondence, publicity documents, and other materials, circa 1933-1963. Page 1 of 134 George Sidney Collection NMAH.AC.0867 Available Formats Digital copy of OF867.8 available in the Smithsonian Digital Assest Management System (DAMS). Processing Information Processed by Franklin A. Robinson, Jr., archivist; 2005-2010, 2017, assisted by C. Jeremy Barney, Adrienne Cain, Jennifer Dannenberg, John Mask, Christine McClatchie, interns; Helen Aitken, Sarah Allen, and Ann Jones, volunteers; supervised by Vanessa Broussard-Simmons, archivist. Preferred Citation George Sidney Collection, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, gift of Corinne Entratter Sidney Restrictions Collection is open for research but is stored off-site. Researchers must handle unprotected photographs with cotton gloves. Researchers may use reference copies of audio-visual materials. When no reference copy exists, the Archives Center staff will produce reference copies on an "as needed" basis and as resources allow. Viewing film portions of the collection requires special appointment, please inquire; listening to LP recordings is only possible by special arrangement. Special arrangements required to view materials in cold storage. Using cold room materials requires a three hour waiting period. Contact the Archives Center for information at [email protected] or 202-633-3270. Conditions Governing Use The Archives Center does not own exclusive rights to these materials. All requests for permission to use these materials for non-museum purposes must be addressed directly to the Archives Center, and the Archives Center will forward the request to the copyright holder. Collection items are available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use. Accruals Bound scripts and two document boxes of material was transferred from the Division of Culture and the Arts, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian, 2017. Biographical / Historical George E. Sidney was born in New York, New York on October 4th, 1916 into a show business family. His father Louis K. Sidney (birth surname Kronowith) (1891-1958) was a Broadway producer, actor-manager, and one of the vice-presidents of Loew's Incorporated. Sidney's mother, Hazael Mooney (?-1969), was a vaudeville performer, part of a sister act known as The Mooney Sisters. She was a native New Yorker, Page 2 of 134 George Sidney Collection NMAH.AC.0867 daughter of prominent New York City attorney Henry Mooney. She and Louis were married at her home, 12 West 109th Street, New York. Another residence was 179 West 63rd Street. Louis K. Sidney began working for Loew's Incorporated in 1923. He managed theatres in Denver, Pittsburgh, Toledo, Dayton, and New York. Later he was in charge of stage productions for the theatre circuit. He was in charge of MGM's East Coast film production facility in New York. He and Hazael followed son George to Los Angeles in 1937. Louis produced two motion pictures at MGM, The Big Store with the Marx Brothers and Hullabaloo. After February 1951, he was a member of the four man executive committee in charge of MGM. At his retirement in 1955, Louis K. had risen to the position of vice-president of Loew's, Incorporated. He served as vice-president and director of the Motion Picture Producers Association, as a director of the Motion Picture Relief Fund, and the Hollywood Coordinating Committee. George Sidney had two uncles in show business, Jack Sidney, known as "Jack of Spades" a black- face comedian, and Sidney's half-uncle, George Sidney (1877-1945) (real name Samuel Greenfield), a vaudeville comic. George had a successful Broadway and screen career, most notably as the bum, Busy Izzy, a character that lasted on the vaudeville circuit from 1901-1915. His initial Broadway success was in a show entitled Welcome Stranger that ran for 309 performances. Welcome Stranger had an extensive touring schedule across the United States. In conjunction with Charlie Murray, he developed a comedy act known as Cohen and Kelly that was not only a vaudeville success but easily made the transition to motion pictures. The Cohens and Kellys films became a motion picture franchise for Universal Studios in 1924. He was married to Carrie Weber (?-1940). George was a member of the Friars Club and an avid sports fan. He owned a racehorse named Kibbitzer. George Sidney made his on-screen debut in The Littlest Cowboy (1921) starring Tom Mix. He moved to Los Angeles in 1930. Sidney went to work as a messenger at MGM. Louis B. Mayer's nickname for Sidney was "boy". Sidney flourished at the studio and by the time he was twenty he was directing screen tests and one-reel shorts. He directed installments in the Our Gang and Little Rascals series, as well as the Pete Smith and the Crime Does Not Pay series. He won back-to-back Oscars for two of his shorts, Quicker'n a Wink (1940) and Of Pups and Puzzles (1941). His feature film directing debut was Free and Easy (1941) starring Robert Cummings. His first major film musical was the all-star, war time musical, Thousands Cheer (1943), starring Kathryn Grayson and Gene Kelly. Sidney always indicated he viewed films as entertainment and seems to have rejected the auteur theory of directing embraced by some of his well known colleagues such as John Ford and Vincent Minnelli. His film, The Three Musketeers (1948), starring Gene Kelly and Lana Turner, was one of MGM's highest grossing films in the post World War Two period. He won his third Oscar for the short, Overture to 'The Merry Wives of Windsor, in 1954. Jupiter's Darling (1955) with Esther Williams was Sidney's last film for MGM. He was loaned to Columbia Pictures to direct The Eddy Duchin Story (1956), after which his contract at MGM ended. Sidney went on to become